Air conditioning apparatus



Feb. 2,1943. M. KALISCHER AIR CO NDITIONING APPARATUS Original Filed Nov. 15.- 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR MILTON KnuscHzR WITNESSES:

Feb. 2, 1943. I MrKALlscHER 22,261

AIR CONDITIONINQ APPARATUS Original Filed Nov., 15 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 r v 2 o MILTON KHLISCHER Feb. 2, 1943. M. KALISCHER AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Original Filed Nov.

3 Sheets-Sheet 3 m T N E V m WITNESSES:

MILTON KHLISCHER ATTO EY Reissued Febrz, 1943 4 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 22,261 I Milmn lifflfcitrfitzi fa ozf Mifstgi gnor to Westinghouse Electric I: Manufacturing Compaw, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania 4 Claims.

My invention relates to a unit air-conditioner, and it has for an object to provide an improved arrangement of the apparatus embodied therein.

1 A further object is to provide means for draining moisture from the air-cooling fins, a more particular object in this connection being to reduce the ei'rtent to which the beads of water collecting at the bottom edges of the fins restrict the air flowing through the passages between the fins.

A further object is to provide a unit air-conditioner having an improved arrangement of removable air filter.

A further object is to provide a mounting for the air circulating fans which provides for quiet operation thereof.

In accordance with my invention, I provide a cabinet having inlets in opposite sides, an outlet in the top, a heat exchanger below the outlet, and propeller fans or blowers for circulating air through said inlets toward the interior. Preferably, a deflector is provided for directing the air upwardly into contact with the heat-exchanger and out through said outlet. A drip pan is located below the air path, for collecting moisture precipitated when cooling and dehumidifying, and excess water when humidifying. A novel arrangement of humidifying the air may also be employed.

I provide a cross-fin coil for cooling and dehumidifying the air, and arrange the lower edges in staggered relation. The beads of water collecting at the bottom edges are thus disposed out of registry, so that the width of the air passage between adjacent fins is reduced by only one head of water at a time; as distinguished from the restriction of two opposed beads of water where the lower edges are in alignment. The staggered relation is preferably provided by inclining the edges of alternate fins in one direction and the intermediate fins in the opposite direction. The inclined edges provide fiow to the corners of the fins to drainthe water therefrom.

I provide the cabinet with a top having a shoulder at the outlet, and Idispose an air filter in the outlet resting on the shoulder, and also a grille disposed above the air filter and preferably in the outlet. The top is preferably of sheet metal, the edge portions at the outlet being turned downwardly and inwardly to provide said shoulder.

In mounting the air circulating fans, I proance with the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the unit air conditioner, with parts broken away to show the ap.- paratus;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken through the outer casing of the cabinet, the left-hand half of the figure also showing the front of the inner casing removed so as to show the parts contained within said inner casing;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view with some of the upper parts of the apparatus broken away or removed to'show the lower parts;

Fig. 4 is an end elevation with parts broken away to show the apparatus in the interior;

Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view to show the fins of the cooling coil;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail sectional view showing the arrangement of the filter element in the top of the cabinet;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view of a detail for draining moisture, taken on the line VII-VII of Fig. 2.

Figs. 8 and 9 are detail views of the spring and.

rubber mounting for the blowers; and

Fig. 10 is a detail section taken on the line X--X of Fig. 5.

Referring now to the drawings more in detail, I

show a unit air-conditioner Ill, commonly termed a room cooler. ing II, and a detachable outer casing or shell l2, preferably of sheet metal. The inner casing Ii carries the airconditioning apparatus with the exception of the air-filter element l3, (Fig. 2), which is carried by the casing II. The front side of the lower portion of the casing, shown open in Fig. 1, has a vertically slidable closure.

The air-conditioner I0 is adapted to be placed in the room or enclosure to be air-conditioned,

. and is provided with aligned inlets I4 in opposite vide springs and rubber through which the weight oi the fan is transmitted in series. I find that the springs absorb vibration due to the unsides oi the casing [2, through which air from the room is admitted. Grilles l5 are preferably positioned in the inlets and are adapted to be readily removed to provide access to various adjusting mechanisms l8 disposed adjacent one or both inlets, and to the fans for oiling.

Propeller fans or blowers ll are disposed ad ia cent the respective inlets, and in openings in end walls I! of the inner casing, for inducing The unit comprises an inner casflow of air through each inlet inwardly toward the opposite inlet. The fans are driven by motors I9, on which they are overhung, the fans being formed with hubs of relatively large diameter, within which the motors are telescoped.

I prefer to mount the fans and motors as shown in Figs. 1, 4, 8 and 9. Radially-extending brackets are secured to the motor IS. The outer end of each bracket extends through the ,sleeve portion of a clamp or hanger 2|, a rubber bushing 22 being inserted therebetween. A pin 23 extends from the inner casing. II, and the hanger is connected thereto through a spring 24. A piece of felt 25 is wrapped around the spring 24. I find that this form of mounting provides for quiet operation of the fan. The rubber absorbs the alternating current hum of the motor and the springs absorb the vibration due to unbalance. The felts damp any vibration inthe springs.

A deflector comprising inclined deflector plates 28, arranged to form an inverted V, is located between the fans l1 and serves to deflect the air from the respective fans upwardly. I find that this deflector provides more quiet operation.

A refrigerating evaporator comprising a cross-finned coil is mounted in the inner casing above the fans and the deflector, for cooling the air circulated through the air-conditioner. Liquid refrigerant is supplied through a conduit 3|, and conveyed through a heat exchanger 32 comprising a double tube coil, one tube being disposed within the other. The double tube coil is arranged in convolutions in a vertical plane adjacent the rear wall of and within the inner casing. The liquid refrigerant flows through the "passage provided by the annular space between the two tubes of the coil. -From the heat exchanger 32, the liquid refrigerant is conveyed through a conduit 33. under control of an expansion valve 34, to the evaporator 30. Vaporized refrigerant discharged from the evaporator is conveyed through a conduit 35 to the heat exchanger 32, in'which it effects cooling of the liquid refrigerant being supplied, and then to the return or suction conduit 35'. The vaporized refrigerant "flows through the inner tube of the heat exchanger coil, its direction of flow being opposite to that of the liquid refrigerant. The expansion valve 34 has a thermal bulb 36 re-- sponsive to the temperature of the vaporized in Fig. 6, the sheet metal of the top wall is ex- I tended downwardly to form a flange 43 and then into the opening to form a flange or shoulder 44 on which the filter element l3 rests. A rille I5 is also disposed in the opening 42 above the filter element and preferably rests thereon. The grille is. preferably disposed flush with the top wall.

I also provide means for humidifying the air when the humidity thereof is less than desired. A fitting 41 is disposed between the deflector plates and comprises nozzles ll which direct streams of water into the air streams transversely thereof, through openings 49 in the deflector plates. Targets 50, made of any suitable erosion-resistant and corrosion-resistant material, such as stainless steel, carborundum, et cetera, are disposed in the air streams andin the path of the water streams, the latter striking against the targets and being finely atomized to facilitate evaporation thereof in the air stream. The targets 50 are preferably mounted on the fitting 41 by straps 5| extending through the openings 49.

A drip pan 53 is disposed beneath the deflector plates 28, the targets 5|] and the blowers II. This drip pan collects the excess water from the spray, which is not evaporated, when the air is being huinidified. When the air is being cooled and dehumidified, the precipitation is collected inthe drip pan.

The upper portion of the inner casing If is longer than the lower portion containing the fans l1, a bottom wall portion 54 extending from each end of the upper portion to the end wall IB. Condensed moisture collecting on the bottom wall portion 5| flows onto theend wall l8, which is formed with an apron 55 to prevent the moisture from falling directly onto the fan. The apron 55 is in the form of an arc, as-shown in Fig. 7, and drains the moisture into troughs 56.

As shown in Fig. 5, the fins'of the evaporator are formed with inclined lower edges, which inclined edges convey the condensed moisture flow.- ing thereto-to the lower corner before it drops from the fins. Inasmuch as the water will readily flow along the lower edge without requiring sufficient accumulation to form drops of water,

it will be apparent that the obstruction to air flow is greatly reduced, except only at the lower end of the inclined edge or lower corner of the fin, at which the water forms drops and falls from the fin. With this arrangement, most of the condensed moisture falls at the side of the air stream, and not throughout said stream.

Alternate fins 59 are inclined toward one side of the evaporator, while the intermediate fins 60 are inclined toward the opposite side. The alternating'arrangement of the inclined edges provides staggering of the edges, as shown in Fig. 10, except at the point where theinclined edges intersect. As shown in Figs. 5 and 10. the beads of water adhering to the lower edges of the fins by capillary attraction are disposed out of registry or alignment. In this way, the width of the air passages between adjacent fins is reduced by only one head at a time. By providing a greater mini mum width of passage, the obstruction to flow of air is reduced.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations, shall be placed thereupon as are imposed by the prior art or as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a unit air-conditioner, the combination of a casing having an outlet in one side and opposed inlets in two opposite sides adjacent the first-mentioned sides, a heat-exchanger disposed within the casing adjacent the outlet, propeller fans positioned with their axes of rotation in alignment with said inlets for effecting flow of air from each inlet inwardly toward the other inlet, a deflector of V-shape, disposed between said ians with the bottom or point of the v toward the outlet, for deflecting the air toward a the outlet, the sides of the deflector having openings therein, and a fitting disposed within the V-shaped deflector .having nozzles for directing streams of water through said openings into the air streams to humidity the air.

2. A cooling and dehumidifying unit having a plurality of fins arranged in parallel relation, the lower edges of alternate fins being inclined in one direction, the intervening fins being inclined oppositely whereby water flows to the corners of the fins and restriction to air flow'by .beads oil-water is minimized.

3.In a room cooler, the combination of an outer casing, an inner casing, an' evaporator within the inner casing, means for conveying-air through said inner casing and in contact with said evaporator, a heat exchanger, means for and vaporized refrigerant exhausted from said evaporator in heat exchanging relation with each other in said heat exchanger, said heat exchanger comprising a double tube coil arranged in convolutions in a vertical plane adjacent a vertical wall of-said casing. v

MILTON KALISCHER. 

